Apologia

Joseph Boyden’s novel stands out from the vast canon of Canadian literature because of the direction and the overall goal that is met by this Canadian piece. Joseph Boyden’s writing is an unbiased description of the contributions aboriginal soldiers made towards the war effort and their sacrifices as well. Boyden’s novel also portrays the inequalities that these soldiers had to face on the home front and the front lines of battle even though they had served their nation. The fiction that is portrayed in Three-Day Road has been influenced by Joseph Boyden’s relatives: "Raymond Boyden was not the only soldier in the family. Joseph’s maternal grandfather, as well as an uncle on his father’s side, had served in the First World War, and Boyden draws upon this fund of family stories for his first novel, Three-Day Road"(Quill & Quire ). Along with this, Joseph Boyden who is partially aboriginal allows the reader the security that Boyden has a general understanding of aboriginal issues in Canada, and will have the utmost respect for individuals of his ancestry.

The characters in Three-Day Road are accurately portrayed for their time, and their treatment by the Canadian Armed Forces. Joseph Boyden allows the reader to be immersed in an historically accurate setting and war attitude, this allows the reader to sympathize with the two fictional main characters in the story. Since Boyden has chosen two fictional main characters in his story it allows him to create emphasis on issues he feels necessary like the inequality that is viewed to be perfectly normal in World War I, and their recalling of past abuses that took place back in their Canadian residential school. This allows the reader to be educated on what the conditions were like for these brave soldiers who were not treated equally. Boyden also uses the inspiration of Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper, and his struggles as a veteran after returning to Canada. (Fox Meadow, book design and publishing). By unbiasedly shining a light on Canada’s treatment of their First Nations’ people, Joseph Boyden captures the significance of this novel and why Three-Day Road should be viewed differently than other pieces of Canadian literature.

Canada is a country that puts great emphasis on its multi cultural status, but the fact is Canada crippled its first Nations’ cultures through years of forcing first Nations decedents into residential schools. Canada, at the time, viewed residential schools not as something that hindered first Nations’ lives, but something that advanced their culture and allowed them to have a more equal chance in Canadian society as is shown in the CBC archive video(CBC Archives). Although the negative extent of residential schools was not intended, we as Canadians need to learn from our mistakes and acknowledge that Canada has made multi cultural mistakes in the past that we have learned from. This is what Joseph Boyden aids us in by opening a window to the majority of Canadians through educating them on the issues of inequality in Canada’s aboriginal past. To aid in the prevention of inequality of any future race in Canada, Joseph Boyden’s novel Three-Day Road should be read by all Canadians. Three-day Road does an excellent job of portraying the accomplishments of the first Nations in World War I, and the serving done by these individuals in a country that did not serve them equally in return.